How do you remove the phone cradle?
 

It may be the best option ever, but I want to remove it. I don't want to break anything... I'd even consider keeping the parts for the new owner. All I can find is an exploded parts diagram which doesn't help much. If anyone has done this, I would appreciate a walk-through or some pointers. Cheers.

I spent a fair bit of time looking into replacing my cradle (2009 music type baseplate) with the newer 2012 media baseplate that supports apps.

What I can tell you is, it's easy to unscrew the actual baseplate from the center console however a pita to disconnect the baseplate wiring from the car. The connector is below the center console and the only way to access this is to dismantle the center console which is time consuming. I thus gave up as it wasn't worth the effort or time.

So with the cradle off, is there a way to tuck the wiring out of the way? If there is a hole left in the back of the console by removing the cradle, can you just stuff the wiring back there?

I added the phone cradle to my 2008 X5.

Yes, once you take it off, you can tuck the wires back in the hole (underneath the center console). You won't have a plastic "flap" that's about 2x3" to cover the hole at the back of the inner compartment though.

The base plate was significantly redesigned compared to the version that was available as a accessory option in 08.

The newer base plate has additional connections for analog video and audio to the CIC and the aux port as well as a USB connection to the combox. Since this part is not a retrofit part or a accessory option the location of the connections are not freely available unless you take the center console apart.

Thanks for all the feedback. Vehicle mfg. date is 11/2009, so it still has CCC. Because I have the less sophisticated system, I may still be able to remove the cradle completely. I don't remember seeing the blank plate in the exploded parts diagram, so it may not be available for purchase. Even if I have a hole in the back of the console, I would rather have use of entire box. Phone works flawlessly on BT, and my music is on a 32GB USB thumb drive plugged into the console's iPod port.

Yes, I know that. That's why the first thing that I mentioned was that I had the 2008 X5.

And I can tell that it was not trivial to install the phone (base, ejector, adapter or whatever all the parts are called) in my 2008 -- one is supposed to remove the center console in order to do that. I may even remove it all now even though I spend hundreds of dollars on parts...

Took the whole thing apart today and could not get the console bucket to come out. Yes, it is easy to get the cradle unbolted (T30) but even after taking the additional trim piece off above the rear AC, and the two screws (#11), I cannot pry out the console bucket. It is locked solidly in place. Help. I'm about to cut the cables, because I can't get to a connector behind the console bucket.

Can you take a photo of what you're referring to. Might ba able to help.

Thanks, I thought I had attached the diagram on the last post. I cannot remove the "bucket" (Item #1). I have removed the two screws (Item #11) and have pried with considerable pressure along the back of the bucket and it will not budge or even start to pop loose. There are no other screws or attachments I can find to release. I really want this cradle gone. I just can't reach (or see) the connector for the cradle to disconnect without removing the bucket. .

Attachment 53189

I had never seen that picture below. It sure does look like #1 can be removed. I did not have the diagram when I did mine and assumed it could not be removed.

The plastic "flap" that I mentioned earlier, to cover the hole that will be left, is #6.

I have #5 at the front of mine; assume you have that too. Do you have that disconnected?

How did you remove bolts #11?

Yea. You're in the same position as me. I couldnt figure out how to remove the bucket. I did determine on my 09 with smartphone integration that the baseplate cradle wiring went underneath the bucket and then into the USB hub which is underneath the shifter and idrive controller. Another baseplate cable went to the back of the aux jack at the front of the bucket. I never found the shark fin antenna connection and there should be a final cable that goes to the mulf2 or combox for sensing.

I determined the more dismantle of the overall console was required to removed the bucket. Maybe someone else can chime in with sugggestions.

Removing bolts 11 is easy. Just unclip the top cover of the back of the console area. It will reveal those screws.

Yeah, the #11 bolts are easy, as are the bolts under phone cradle itself. Problem is I am left with the cables running under the bucket (#1) and no way to disconnect the cradle (#14). The goal is to somehow lift the bucket up to expose the connector. The blank plate (#6) is available for under $10. If I can't figure out how to get the bucket out, I am considering cutting the cables instead. I wanted to retain the kit for the new owner, but this cradle has got to go. What a waste of space... although the best option ever.
Attachment 53193

Yikes ... Cutting !!!

You could go and speak with a bmw tech. They could pull up and hopefully printout the instructions to dismantle it.

A concern I have ... You may need to change your vehicle order (via coding) since the car will expect it there and if it's not it may log errors.

Any update on this? I am at the same point on my 2012 X5 35d. That cradle is making me mental.

Got it...Just removed torx, got the cradle where I could work on it, removed the two small torx under the rubber feet at the front edge of the cradle, split the cradle, removed the wiring and circuit board. In my case the cradle is a total loss, but I was never going to put it back anyway. The wiring tucks nicely in the hole under the console. I'll order up a cover and I am good to go. BTW, no codes or issues with the truck.

Not yet, but I haven't given up on it. There has to be a trick to removing the console bucket I just haven't found. The exploded diagram I found is for purchasing parts, not from a manual on dissassembly. After having removed the cradle and the two "bucket retaining screws" there is nothing further to remove that is visible. This must mean there either more hidden bolts under the side trim, or it snap-locks into place. I can't see any releases. I have thought about running up to BMW to see if I could see a picture from the manual. Haven't found anything on the internet. You know the cradle cable has a connector just out of view, but there is no way to pull the connector apart without getting your hands on it. I will never use the cradle, but would like to retain it for resale. Very frustrating.

Thanks Erik. When you say the cradle is a total loss, do you mean you had to "break" the cradle apart after the two torx screws, or that in order to remove the the circuit board you had to do something else which is irreversible? I did want to save for resale purposes, but... I just purchased this '09 CPO three months ago so I plan on keeping it for a long time. The cradle would be distant memory and it probably wouldn't even be a factor during resale since BT works flawlessly for almost every phone out there. Anyhow, appreciate you reviving the thread and providing a solution. Cheers.

Yes, I did break it, but I could have taken it apart more gently. I just made the command decision that I would never need it and I didn't want to spend hours dissecting it. I didn't cut any of the wiring though, and I saved the chip from the holder, so if I ever had to, I could rig it up to work.
I suspect, like you have mentioned, that by the time I would want to get rid of the truck, it would be a distant memory and of no value to a potential buyer.

Cool man. Appreciate it. Ima gonna go mental on it... :stickpoke

R.I.P. Best Option Ever!

Did you check the codes using your pc or did you just look under idrive?

I used the autologic at my other shop (edgemotorworks.com)

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

damn , i did cut the cable, and that ended up in a "sos call system failure" , i even tried re-wiring the 4 cables back to the connector with chip. but no luck.
No sound in car now at all , someone any ideas ? m going mental now !

Dude. I can't believe you cut the cables ....

I reckon the only thing to do is recode the car and remove the smart phone integration from vehicle order. Talk to patrk at bimmertech if you are not comfortable with coding yourself.

i know , guess there is no pil against stupidity ... Currently got no sound , does anyone know what is required for the circuit. I rigged the "green" "red" "white" brown" back up , to no success.... I did not reconnect the "phone" cable (reception cable)..

would recoding just shut down the cradle , and does bluetooth remain ...
cant believe i actually did this.... f**k

yea. Since the smart phone integration is a seperate order item .. its controlled under the vehicle order.

its enabled through coding. essentially saying to combox ... hello mr combox, this car has a cradle and is attached to you. Hello Mr CiC, this car has a Cradle .. etc.

there are control/sensing cables that go from the combox to the cradle, to tell the combox something is there ... and also that someone has stuck a iphone in the cradle. its not all done via usb.

bmw over engineer everything.

So unless you stick a new baseplate in, i think the only way to avoid the error is to code out the smartphone integration ... and i'm guessing here.

you wouldnt loose Bt or apps or bt streaming, etc ... just the cradle piece.

this is all speculation. you may be able to find a better answer going over to bmwc-o-d-i-n-g.com (remove the - from that address).

good luck.

thanks very much , heading for the dealer first thing , will let you know the outcome !

Hi All, although i still think my decision yesterday was a total fail and retard, got it fixed today. Went in the dealership and hooked it to the computer , quite a list of fails.. But turned out that i blew a fuse...... got it replaced, deleted all the errors and re-ran the diagnose, no errors.... not even a mention of a missing TCU. (they could not program out the TCU on the spot, that would also mean losing my bluetooth..)... Happy camper now... thanks all !!

As a followup and to benefit anyone reading this in the future, I was also able to split the phone cradle and remove the circuit board and chip just as Erik had done. If there is a way to split the cradle without destroying it, I couldn't find it. There are two small torx under rubber pads in the front of the cradle, but they are of little help. Once split, the wiring and board are easily removed and tucked behind the console. I have ordered the blank plate (see diagram above) from Tischer. Not an elegant solution, but quite satisfying to have the use of the entire console.

I have something rattling around (sounds like a quarter but no idea how it got in there) in what looks like part 7. How do I get THAT out to check?

Looks ugly bro... coinsectomy

edit... son of a bitch. Looks like he was able to get the console bucket out. I wanted to do this to unplug my phone cradle. See that Erik? Oh well, the cradle is gone and the new blank plate is snapped into place. The cuts on my hand are also healing nicely...

That picture in the link is of the front section of the console area. Underneath the shifter and idrive controller. Not of the bucket.

Removing the shifter is very straightforward.

Thanks for sharing the diagram.

I too am considering removing the phone cradle on my 2008 E70 as it doesn't support my current phone - Samsung Omnia 7. According to the dealer, the LC1 which supports my phone can't be retrofitted.

Can anyone confirm this?

If you're car is a 2008, then the cradle you have in your car shoul be the original retrofit option. Therefore it "should" be relatively straightforward to remove. Pop open the cover at the back of the rear cigarette lighters ... And see if the connector for the cradle is located. Once you can find that the rest should be easy.

Failing that go to your dealer and ask them
To printout the installation instructions for the accessory option

Can't confirm retrofit, but do you have BT? If not, it can be added easily. Once you have BT working, you can remove the cradle, and you will have full use of your console. There is a blind cover plate available from BMW that snaps right over the hole where the cradle was. I'm very happy with it now.

Dealer wants like $350 to do it.. If it's NOT a coin, no charge, but it almost certainly is. Ugh.

Well, thanks for the link - I may (or may not) give this a go. I'm only afraid that I will pay more to fix whatever I broke. :yawn:

NICE!

Yes, I do have blue tooth. It came with the Executive Packs (& Sports Pack) as it's called in Australia (not sure that's what it's called in the US).

It looks like I'll just need to get the blank cover plate from the dealer to cover the hole once the cradle is removed.

Just removed my cradle and what a stupid design. I got all happy when it looked like a plug on the bottom of the cradle but to no avail. I ended up breaking the cradle a stuffing the wires and circuit board in the open cuddy like everyone has talked about. I wish I would have left it but I started before I reached it here...

My X5 has been for service for about a week chasing down a check engine light. I happened to mention to my SA that I was curious how much work it would be to remove the cradle and install the blank. My SA calls me today to say the truck is fixed and the cradle is out.

The cradle is in one piece and all wires and connections are all intact and the blank is on order. Better news is they pulled it for free as a thank you since they have had my truck for over a week and I haven't complained. Karma!

As for the console without it... Amazing amount of space was just freed up and even without the blank it looks fine. I'll pop in the blank when it arrives however for a totally factory look.

Great to hear. Do you or does anyone else have the part number for the blank cover plate? I tried looking on Tischer but couldn't find a parts diagram that matched the one in this thread. My BMW dealer is an hour away so trying to save a trip. Thanks and Merry Christmas!!

James

my 2013 diesel is in the 4th check engine light in about 2 months and they are supposed to also pop in the blank. I'll give you the part number on the blank when I pick up the truck.

Great, thanks. Sorry about the CEL though, my buddy's RRS had the same issue. Those can be a pain to track down, and it's normally nothing.

Is Fairport in LI? I'm originally from N. Westchester but live in NC.

Part number is 51169115083. Cost me $18 shipped but I really like the console with all that extra room.

Fairport is in WNY by Rochester.

No need to cut or break any plastic. It all comes apart.(those Germans). Not sure why anyone would put a cell phone under your armrest(to forget).
I have a 2013 E70 3.5d

Key steps.
(not sure you need to do this but probably best so you don't scratch trim)
I removed the trim piece on top of rear climate control with nylon pry tool
Removed the 2 Torx screws on top of bucket under trim.

Lift up cradle and Removed the 2 Torx screws under cradle holding it to car.
Remove the 2 Torx screws under rubber feet at top of cradle
Remove the Torx screw on hinge that holds the Barrel the spring is around.
Remove Barrel and spring(you may need to pry a little)
the rest is just finding the right spot to pry parts apart.

Here are all the parts once taken apart:
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...cket/parts.jpg

Torx screw in hinge
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...x-in-hinge.jpg

Hinge piece
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ket/spring.jpg

Separate cradle from insert after you get hinge apart
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ket/cradle.jpg

Take apart Insert:
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...lit-cradle.jpg

Take out IC board after split in two:
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...adle-split.jpg

Electric Tape wrap the IC circuit board and stuff below bucket
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...e-and-hide.jpg


Buy and snap in OEM Blind plate 51169115083 (I have a 2013 E70)

All done.. Lots of extra room
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ucket-Done.jpg

After disassembling half of the interior of my car I'm pleased to report that you can actually disconnect the phone cradle wiring with a minimum of disassembly.

The connectors are behind the carpeted trim next to the passenger seat. Starting under the passenger dash remove the three screws from the trim panel and remove the panel. Remove the single screw at the front end of the carpeted trim under the passenger dash. Work your hand behind the carpeted panel near the front of the passenger seat and pop it loose from two pins. Slide it forward and out. Slide the second carpeted panel forward and out.

At this point you should be able to see the phone wiring come out of a hole near the back of the console, run through two metal clips (deroute it from them) and then go into a hole about where the passenger seat is. Fish the connectors out of that hole, disconnect all three, and then you can feed the cabling back and out.

By the way, regarding removing the bucket: There are a couple of screws on each side under the carpeted panels, and a pair of screws at the front under the trim around the iDrive controller. Once you remove all of those screws the bucket is loose but at least in my case still wouldn't come out. At that point I realized removing it wasn't necessary and stopped, but that seems to be farther than others have gotten so I thought I'd report it in case someone else really does need to get the bucket out.

jheiss, thanks. The plug location was just as you described. I was able to remove the phone cradle and harness without breaking or cutting anything on my 2009 E71.

Since I was also removing the rear seat DVD-screen/elbow-whacker I went ahead and pulled out the "bucket". The screw count is 2 front, 2 rear, and 2 on each side for 8 total. One additional trick: you have to pop out the front panel inside the bin that holds the AV connectors and 12v socket. Unplug the cables, and the bin lifts right out complete with the lids. HOWEVER, this will gain access to nothing but a couple of air ducts! To remove the phone cradle, it is only necessary to remove the right side trim panels. I have pics of the back of all of the panels to show where clips are located, if anybody is interested.

To get at the cables for the rear screen, I had to pop out the AC vents and the rear console trim piece. I also took out the player while I was at it. I found an antenna back there. Not sure what it was, so I put it back in with some Velcro tape. So far the BT works fine and the computer has not detected anything amiss. Now I have to figure out what to do with that hole in the rear of the console.

gerG

I removed my DVD screen and player too. I'm awaiting the "oddments tray" (BMW part 51166973519) and "cover" (BMW part 51166963383) which I think are the right parts to fill in where the DVD player used to be. The cover looks similar to what was on the DVD player and I could possibly have just reused it, but I decided to order a new one just in case. I've also ordered the "cover" (BMW part 51166954955) which I believe is the part that should cover where the DVD screen was. I've read in other forums that the cover doesn't fit cars which used to have a DVD screen due to the mounting brackets for the screen. I figure I'll modify it to fit somehow.

jheiss, I think that you have the right parts on order. I think that the cover for the oddments tray is actually a small bin that sits above, making a sort of stairstepped bin.

I was looking at the bracket that held the rear screen. I think that it can be removed without impacting anything else. I left it in because I like the idea of extra mount points.

I'm planning on removing the phone cradle from my new-to-me 2011 E70 and would interested in the pics of the back of the panels.

Cheers,
Jim

I'm also looking to remove the cradle from my new-to-me 2012 X40d. Everything works with my iphone via BT or USB so I don't see what benefit the cradle offers - it just takes up a lot of space.

Jim did you have any luck removing yours?

I did. Removing the trim panels on the right side (pass side in the US) helped. The connections for the phone cradle cables can be seen and accessed, so it's just a matter of disconnecting them and pulling them up through the center storage bin.

Jim

If you actually disconnect the cables won't the system complain that it's missing? Do the USB and aux ports in the storage bin still work? I was planning to strip it down and leave the wires/circuit board tucked inside the hole as others had suggested but this sounds cleaner if nothing else it affected.

I didn't notice any issues.

Yep, they're on separate cables.

Great thanks I think this will be my first mod on this car. Hopefully getting the trim off isn't too tricky.

This post suggests you only need to remove a piece of carpet trim to access the cables:

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...e-removal.html

Does that match up with your experience? When I do this I figure I'll pull through a drawstring with the cables in case I ever want to put the thing back.

Yes. When I mentioned trim in my earlier post I was referring to the 2 pieces of carpeted trim along the right side of the center area.

Jim

I just did this in about 15 mins after reading this post. EXACTLY as described. No errors.
AWESOME - free mods are the best! How am I going to fill up this storage cubby now?? I currently have a pair of re-purposed boxer shorts in there to clean smudges off my windows. It gets people to look at me funny at stoplights. Plus if I sh!t my pants on a road trip I am prepared.

Anyway I felt obliged to say THANK YOU! to all who went before me and tore apart their interior so that I could reap the rewards of their perseverance.

Nice!

Tons of room in there now, right?

Great adivce!!!
 

Worked perfectly for me today!!! Thanks for discovering and posting this!!!

X5 Cell cradle
 

I know this is an old thread but has anyone re-purposed the Cell Wiring harness that is now available after removing the cradle? Was wondering about an extension USB from this so an additional charger/interface would be useful. Also, mine has an additional cable not shown in other posts. Anyone have any ideas what they are all for? (IE: wiring diagram/pinout)
Tks

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...psrpuk7dsb.jpg

http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6fnovnku.jpg

Was anyone ever been able to do this ?

remove the cradle and replace it wih a USB port instead ?

Resurrecting an old thread here I know, so my apologies ahead of time..

I finally got around to removing this atrocity, but now I have the big hole in the back of the console. I went to good old realoem to look up the blind plate part number. But when I went to FCP euro and other sites looking to purchase it, I find that instead of the suggested retail of $6.75 on RealOEM, its selling for between $62 and $75 dollars?!?

Has this little piece of plastic really gone up ten times in price? :dunno:

yes.


Real OEM isnt real.


And bmw parts go up with (1) age and (2) rarity


S62 vanos solenoids were $90. Now 10x